9 months - Birthdays

Before I get to the photos, let me share with you my favorite thing that Augie is doing now. You know that we've been playing hide-and-seek with him for a while now. Recently he started taking the game one step further. It goes like this: I get his attention and then run behind something (like the couch), so he'll have to come find me. He'll start sprint-crawling toward where he saw you go (and you can hear him coming, his hands and feet slapping the floor, him grunting on the exhale with his exertion) - but as he nears me, rather than stopping to "find" me, he'll do a fly-by and just start running away! He might look back, a grin on his face, to see if I'm following, but off he goes, expecting me to follow him. He giggles and runs until he comes to a dead end, then he sits up and looks back at me, smiling. He knows I'm coming to get him! Sometimes he even tries to go farther (up the wall), but it never works, and Mama prevails.

What I love about this new variation of the game is that he started with something we taught him and, all on his own, took it to the next level. It's like he said, "oh yeah, you want me to come find you? Well then, you chase me!" I think it shows his playful creativity.

But on to the birthdays and the pictures...

Today, September 3, is the birthday of Augie's maternal grandfather, Bill and his paternal grandmother (Ah Mah) Terry. (It's also the birthday of my best friend Sabrina's daughter Maggie - she's one today! - and my high school friend Beth). Augie had his first artistic endeavor yesterday making gifts for his grandparents.

First, Baba had some camera shenanigans to play:

As you might guess, helping a 9-month old make art with finger paints is an all-hands-on-deck endeavor; James handled the canvases and the paint, I handled the baby and his hands and feet, leaving no one to take pictures of the actual art-making. We got pictures of the artist with his masterpieces, though:

Showing off his technique: